


Dest

by JustAWinterGuardian



Category: Original Work
Genre: Blood Loss, Dystopia, Found Family, Gen, Knife Wound, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pain, Post-Apocalypse, Whump, city
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2020-02-07 12:36:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18620770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustAWinterGuardian/pseuds/JustAWinterGuardian
Summary: A city of orphans, runaways, and refugees. That sums up Dest in a sentence.Jazer got shipped off there when he was ten, and he's remained there since. He's alone, partially by choice partially by fate.That all changes when Wisdom takes him by the hand and leads him into something resembling a family.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!  
> Okay... Well, I wrote this story a while ago and it was my first real original story. I'm still pretty excited about it and I put a lot of work into it!  
> So, I hope you all enjoy it!

Delicate. 

That was the word Jazer thought when he first saw her. She looked as though a slight push could knock her over. Her chestnut hair just brushed her shoulder blades, and it was swept by the gentlest breeze. Even from his position on the ground, she appeared to be a weak twig that had snapped off of a tree.  _ She shouldn’t be in Dest. Not strong enough. _ He thought to himself, but he chased his thoughts from his head. She didn’t matter right now.

Jazer looked up as her shadow was cast over him. The pain in his left thigh was searing. He didn’t understand why this girl was standing over him with the posture that implied that she ruled the world. “What do you want?” He asked as his head lolled back against the wall, dark brown hair falling into his eyes.

“Are you okay?” She answered his question with a question. He gave her a raised eyebrow. Why would she ask that? At this point in life, it should have been obvious that life on those dull streets revolved around “every man for himself.” That meant that even the man who had a knife wound in his thigh was also expected to take care of himself.

He smirked. “Yeah, I’m fine. I don’t see why you would ask.” In response, she got to her knees beside him, and prodded the gash in his leg. He gasped as a wave of pain washed over him. He hadn’t thought the knife cut him too deeply. He was wrong. Jazer slapped her hand away.

“And that’s why I would ask,” she said simply, wiping his blood from her finger on her pant leg. He glared.

“So, what do you want then? To see how bad my leg feels? Well, congratulations, you got to see me make a pained face. I hope that satisfies you,” he remarked, an edge coloring his voice.

She smiled as she straightened. “You should get that treated. It’s not hard to get an infection out here,” the girl remarked. Jazer knew how easily his leg could get infected, and treating it wasn’t as easy as it sounded. He’d have to steal alcohol and bandages. On top of that, he wasn’t sure how to go about binding up a wound like this. Living on the streets, he’d received his share of cuts, bruises, and an occasional concussion, but the gaping hole in his thigh would be harder to fix.

“Yeah, thanks for the advice,” he responded venomously. “I’ll just go to the clinic, reach into my wallet, and pay whatever the price is.” Sarcasm oozed from his words, and a nearly acidic smile grew on his lips. He rolled his eyes, and turned his face to the passerbys of the street outside of the small alley. “Just leave me alone, would you?”

His expectation was that she would retreat back to the steady flow of people, but she didn’t. She stood there.  _ What is with this girl?  _ He asked himself. She wouldn’t leave him like she should have.

She offered a hand to him. He glanced at it, then back up at her face. “Come on,” she commanded, authority tinging her high pitched tone. There were few things that he hated more than being told what to do, so he leaned back against the wall, hoping to tune out the throbbing rhythm of his injury. His eyes shut as he ignored the biting wind on his face, and the girl’s piercing eyes. “Let’s go,” she continued to urge him.

He didn’t see it, but he got the feeling that her hand was still before him, beckoning him to join her. Jazer knocked her hand away from him, and opened his eyes. “Are you an idiot or something? Why the heck should I trust you? More importantly, why the heck would you trust me? It should be obvious tha-” His words were cut off when black spots danced around the edges of his vision. Blood loss was really taking him down a few pegs.

“Look, I’m trying to help you here,” the girl’s voice cut through the fog in his head.

“Idiot,” he said again, his own voice beginning to sound strange to him. “I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not. You’ve lost a lot of blood, you’re sitting in the snow, and you suddenly started slurring your words a little. You could die!”

“Nothing I can’t walk away from,” he retorted, attempting to keep his words from slurring too badly.

“Imbecile!” She quipped. “If you do somehow manage to live through this, you’ll probably never walk again because that leg will rot off!” Jazer was vaguely aware of her grabbing his shirt collar. His head felt weird, as though helium had replaced his brain.

What was happening? Why was this girl slapping his shoulder and yelling at him? Nothing made sense. Where was he? What happened? His heart seemed to be beating faster than normal. He gazed down at the bloody mess on his leg, and fingered the sticky fluids on his hands. 

He semi-snapped out of his confused daze when the brunette pulled his left arm over her shoulders and hoisted him up. A new surge of dizziness invaded his mind as he was forced into standing position. “What are you-?” He began irritably. Before he could finish his sentence, he clamped a hand over his mouth to suppress a wave of nausea. Jazer swallowed hard, trying to keep it all down.  

“Save your breath, we have a ways to go,” the girl said seriously. Jazer rarely appreciated getting help, and this incident was no exception. He was even less thrilled about it, considering how she practically forced him to accept her help, but he couldn’t do much on his own at that point, so he simply did his best to limp along as she half dragged him through the hard-packed snow.

“This is kidnapping,” Jazer mumbled. He was so tired of the whole thing that he just accepted that some strange teenager was hauling him off. The girl cast him an annoyed sideways glance. “I’ll yell and get the police,” he continued, his voice growing hoarse. Although, that wouldn’t help him at all. The police wouldn’t care, aside from that he doubted that he even had the strength to yell.

“Go ahead and try it,” the girl responded, releasing a half laugh. Her breath came out in huffs. She probably wasn’t used to tugging half conscious boys across town in the snow. Her warm breaths formed puffs at her lips in the chilly weather. 

_ She’s like a dragon…  _ Jazer thought, watching her exhaled air turn white, and fade immediately. He didn’t remember where he learned the word “dragon” he just knew that it was a fictional, fire breathing reptile.  _ A really naive dragon, with brown hair,  _ he concluded the thought. His eyes were fluttering between open and closed. His good leg buckled.

He couldn’t keep going for much longer, as much as he hated to admit it. “You’ve been quiet for too long,” the girl grunted as she trudged forward. “Talk to me. Stay alive!” Jazer was jostled from his delusional world of dragons and sleep as the girl stumbled forward. He shuddered as the only heat he felt was the warmth of his companion, and the constant trickle of blood down his thigh.

“I’m trying to stay alive here. Is that enough for you, Dragon?” He asked, both his mouth and head felt like they were stuffed with cotton wads.

“Dragon?” The girl echoed.

“That’s your nickname, now,” Jazer slurred as his head lolled backward and to the side. The black dots that had surrounded his vision before invaded it now. They covered about a third of what he could see.

“Dragon” shrugged, her movement knocked Jazer’s head to her shoulder. “It’s not the worst nickname I’ve ever had.”

“That’s what I’m callin’ you.”

“Call me whatever you want, just don’t die on me.” She kept on trudging, weighed down by Jazer, and his injured leg that dragged uselessly through the snow, leaving a trail of blood behind it. 

Silence ensued. “You’re really weird, you know that?” Jazer murmured, his temple resting on her shoulder. “You wouldn’t leave me alone, even when I. . . told you to. You abduct me in broad daylight, and then you remind me... of dragons.” The spaces between his words seemed to stretch longer than he meant for them to. 

It was getting harder and harder to keep his eyes open. It was also getting harder and harder to keep his mouth shut. “You’re hair’s really. . . nice. It’s… shiny…” A pause. “You. . . can’t be. . . from. . . around here… You act. . . different…” Dizziness kicked his feet out from under him. 

“Almost there!’ The girl panted triumphantly.

“It’s been fun,” Jazer let out as he gave up on keeping himself upright. He would die. Too much blood was gone, spread into a crimson trail on the snow. He didn’t know what else to say as he collapsed.

Why not tell the truth? In the last few hours of his life, he’d lived it up. He got in a knife fight over money, he met a very unique person, and he hung out with a dragon. It wasn’t the ending that he’d ever expected to get, but life was full of surprises. 

He almost laughed as he lay bleeding out into the snow, his vital fluid forming a scarlet puddle beside him. The girl took his shoulders and tried to persuade him to get a handle on himself, but it was no use. Reason, strength, sanity, they all slipped out of his reach. Did it matter? Did anything matter? 

All he knew was that a roaring, brunette dragon knelt beside him.  _ Oh man, life is so messed up some days… _ He thought as everything faded away in a great flash of white, red, and noise.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jazer meets Galen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here I am posting another chapter... 
> 
> I've been working on a presentation on anemia treatments. It's a slow process... I just really wanted to get another chapter out there. =D
> 
> I know this isn't getting many views, but it still feels good to get this out there. I wrote this entire story over the course of about 3 years, and I know it's really flawed, but I'd really like to polish it and get it out for publication. So, honestly, feel free to comment.   
> Anyway, here's chapter 2.

He woke up on a hard, plaid couch. His head hurt so badly that he missed the peaceful confusion of bleeding out in the snow. On top of that, his pants and shirt were missing, leaving him in only his boxer shorts. A threadbare blanket had been thrown over him, but it provided little defense against the frigid air. “The heck happened?” He mumbled, forcing a hand up to massage his temples. Unfortunately for him, a needle occupied his dominant arm in the crook of his elbow. 

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Jazer groaned as he looked in confusion at a long tube that slowly dripped red fluid into his veins. He poked at the needle in his arm, grimacing as he accidently pushed it deeper under his skin. Jazer wondered if he could pull it out and go about his day, but that probably wouldn’t his best idea. The IV issue aside, could he even walk? A pain in his thigh reminded him that he could not. 

A hazy memory surfaced. At one point he wanted to be a doctor. How old had he been then? Four? Six? It couldn’t have been after ten. That was about when things fell apart. He shut his eyes, trying to tune out the memory. He wasn’t that little boy anymore, he didn’t dream. That child was buried under layers of dirt, rocks, and grass, along with his parents.

“Glad to see you’re awake,” an unfamiliar voice stated. Jazer restrained himself from bolting upright. He knew that any large, sudden movement would shift the IV needle in his arm. He’d like to avoid unnecessary pain if he could help it. 

“Who’s there?” He asked, turning his head to an awkward angle, hearing the loud crack of his sore neck. Jazer flinched at the sound .

“Relax, son. I’m just a doctor. The name’s Galen.” A middle aged man stepped closer to Jazer, so he could actually see him. In the dim light, the guy had graying hair and blue eyes. Jazer winced as the man got closer and took a seat on a folding chair beside the couch. He wasn’t used to being so close to people without giving or receiving sudden impact.

“You act like I’m going to pummel you,” the man observed, cleaning his wire rimmed glasses on his shirt. “Calm down. I’ve no intention of causing you harm.”

Whether what he said was true or not, it did not matter to Jazer. He learned not to trust a long time ago. His body ached, his head throbbed, and still he kept his muscles taut, ready to move, and his eyes narrowed. “Where am I?” He asked, keeping his voice level.

“Just a run down apartment building,” the doctor replied. “You’re lucky Wisdom found you when she did. You were halfway across the threshold to the afterlife when I managed to treat that knife wound.”

Jazer looked down at the gash. It had been bandaged, and he didn’t know for sure, but it was probably stitched up underneath. Then, he pieced together what the guy had said. Something didn’t seem right. What did he mean “Wisdom”? 

“What do you mean ‘Wisdom?” He questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“The girl who dragged you here…” Galen clarified.

“Oh, the dragon,” Jazer remarked, understanding. 

“Dragon?”

“It’s nothing…”

Silence followed. Jazer didn’t like it. He was used to silence, since he spent most hours of most days alone, but it was too awkward with him lying on a couch, getting blood transfused into him, with someone he didn’t even know sitting next to him. Jazer opened his mouth to say something. The man spoke before the boy could. His voice suddenly sounded slightly more gentle, but at the same time, it was harder.

“The streets have hardened you to a great extent, haven’t they?” Galen said, a grim tone creeping into his voice. 

“What do you mean by that?!” Jazer asked suddenly feeling defensive even though he had no idea why. He jerked upright, and sunk back down when he felt pain spread all over his body. He almost curled into the fetal position, but stopped himself when he realized that doing so would probably hurt as well. He couldn’t stop the small whimper that escaped his lips.

“Don’t move so much, boy. You’ll only hurt yourself,” Galen instructed as Jazer tried to ignore the sharp pangs until they subsided into a dull throb that seemed to push the air from his lungs.

“Yeah, thanks a lot for telling me!” Jazer forced the words out of his mouth as he lay gasping in pain. What was it that hurt? Where was the pain coming from? His leg, yes. Aside from that, everything hurt.

“It was more than just the knife wound,” Galen explained as though he was reading Jazer’s mind. “You have contusions all over, a sprained ankle, and a slight concussion. Must have been some fight.” 

The boy said nothing, he stared up at the ceiling after the pain passed. He was unable to do much else. His eyes were drawn to the garnet colored liquid in the saline bag. “Whose is it?” He asked, a shudder running through him.

Galen leaned back in his chair. “Well, it’s yours now. Or at least, seven tenths of it is yours.” He gestured to the remaining three tenths of blood in the bag. “But, I assume that you want to know whose it used to be. It was Wisdom’s. She gave as much blood as she could before I made her stop.”

“That dragon has a few screws loose,” Jazer muttered.

“How so?”

Jazer shut his eyes for a second. “Why would she do that? I don’t even know her, and she’s giving blood. It’s idiotic.”

“She does stuff like that out of kindness. This isn’t the first time she’s done something like this. She’s never dragged a half dead boy through the snow though. Congratulations on being the first.” 

Jazer furrowed his eyebrows. He couldn’t understand. “Where is she?” Jazer asked. 

“She’s at work,” Galen answered.

“Work?”

“Factory job.”

“She’s a toiler?!” Jazer asked incredulously. “Toilers” were the people who toiled away in factories. The pay was sub minimal, and the hours were long. They chose not to steal or cheat or lie or fight. In other words, almost the exact opposite of Jazer. He’d seen enough people waste away after a week in those places. If he worked there, he’d die; slowly, painfully. How on Earth could a girl who worked there give enough blood to keep him alive?

“How could she go back to work after losing so much blood?” His mind flashed back to when he first saw her. Her delicate looking frame, her light brunette hair, the sprinkle of freckles across her nose. So small. So weak. From the way her hair swayed with the wind to the way her fingers seemed so thin when she’d yanked his arm around her. “She can’t be that strong,” he said, thinking back to how narrow her shoulders felt beneath his arm.

“She has more willpower than strength,” Galen said, nodding sagely. “I had to prohibit her from giving any more so she wouldn’t pass out. I can’t promise that she won’t be lightheaded today.”

Jazer looked back at the tube that pumped Wisdom’s blood into him. How much would she had given if Galen hadn’t stopped her? Why would she do that? “She’s insane,” Jazer concluded aloud. 

The medic offered a sound that was something between a laugh and a sigh. He examined the almost empty blood bag again. “Lad, the streets have hardened you beyond stone. The girl does go overboard, but have you really been on your own that long that compassion is synonymous with insanity?” There was something in Galen’s voice that gave off some kind of familiar vibe. Jazer could practically sense it; Galen knew what it was like to live for only himself. Then, why was he there? Why was he pressing a wad of cotton over the needle and helping someone he didn’t know? 

He didn’t want to respond to Galen’s comment, but somewhere deep inside himself, he had to. Maybe to justify his hardened view of the world. “If we didn’t think that way, how would we make it this far?” He said slowly, his voice devoid of emotion.

Galen looked up from Jazer’s arm. “Make no mistake, you have to be wise and cunning to survive out there, but there are ways to put aside selfish desires. There are ways to find the light.”

That was something the boy could not actually respond to. Jazer flinched as the needle slowly slid out from under his skin. He’d never been squeamish, at all, but something about watching the tiny medical tool coming out sickened him. There was a sense of finality when Galen secured a wad of gauze to Jazer’s arm with a short length of a medical adhesive. 

“So,” Jazer began, flexing and extending his arm experimentally. “I’m pretty much as good as new now, right? I mean, I have more blood and stuff, so see you around!” Galen didn’t stop him as he sat up; ignoring the surges of dizziness, pain, and nausea, he swung his legs over the edge of the couch and stood up briskly. He didn’t have to even try to stop Jazer, for gravity, Jazer’s wound, and any of the sedatives he’d given the boy did everything in an instant.

Just as quickly as Jazer had gotten himself vertical, he was on the ground in a crumpled heap. “You still need time to heal, you know,” Galen stated.

“You’re a little late in telling me!” Jazer half yelled, half growled through the pain. He glanced down at the wound on his thigh; it hadn’t opened up or anything as far as he knew. It’d probably be best not to test its limits.

“Well, experience is the best teacher,” Galen shrugged. Jazer glared because that was about all he could manage.

“I’m back!” Wisdom’s voice called through the closed door. She peeked her head in. 

“How was work?” Galen asked, paying no mind to the boy on the floor.

“Same as always: long, boring, I got three new bruises,” she said. Her voice sounded chipper, but the was an unmistakable air of exhaustion. “Anyways,” she continued. “Thanks for staying the whole day, I feel bad I kept you from your other patients.”

Galen smiled for the first time that Jazer had seen. He walked over beside Wisdom near the door. “I guess this means I’m relieved of duty. It was no problem, he was out until a little while ago. He’s not totally recovered yet. Keep him inside, we can’t let that wound open up.”

“Roger that,” Wisdom concluded, raising her hand to her forehead in a mock salute as Galen stepped out of the apartment. “I’ll see you around!” 

“I’m still here,” Jazer said between his sounds of struggles. He pushed himself up by using all his arm strength. It didn’t help him much, the arm that had a needle in it earlier collapsed beneath him. “Argh! Damn it!” He cried out, in surprise more than pain.

Wisdom was beside him in a second. Jazer propped himself up on an elbow, cursing at his weakness. “Come on,” Wisdom whispered, once again pulling one of his arms over her shoulders. Slowly, she pulled him up. Jazer could feel it, something about the way she paused for a second after she drew herself to full height, she wasn’t as strong as she’d been before.

“Why did you help me?” Jazer asked when he finally managed to get seated on the couch. His muscles shook from the exertion, and his breath heaved. Wisdom wasn’t doing much better. Blood loss took its toll.

“Because,” she responded between breaths. “You were bleeding out on the streets. If no one intervened, you’d die.”

Jazer breathed a laugh and reclined. “You’re the first person I’ve ever met who would do something like that.” A pause. “I still think you’re insane.”

“Well, my insanity  _ did _ save your life. That counts for something, right?” She questioned. 

Jazer shrugged. “I don’t think it matters too much.” Truth be told, he didn’t think much of it. He protected nothing but himself. He cared for nothing but himself. In the end, if he failed to protect himself, that was his own problem. His regrets would be over too quickly for him to feel them. Dying wasn’t ideal, but who would notice or care when it happened? “Thanks for saving me, but in the end, your accomplishment may have been short lived.”

Wisdom stared at him for a minute as though blood was dripping down his face. Then, she rammed her fist into his arm. He sucked in a breath as the sudden impact forced its way up to his shoulder. “Don’t think that way!” She said aggressively. “You have a life, therefore it has to be worth living.”  
“You don’t know me,” Jazer cut her off, rubbing his arm, jerking back into a rigid sitting position. “There’s no need to get violent over this.” Wisdom’s eyes calmed, and Jazer knew that he had won the argument. 

“Still,” Wisdom began. “I’m sure that there’s a reason you’re alive, why you’re here. I don’t think that you’re meant to only live for yourself.”

Jazer shrugged. “I don’t care what your opinion about me is, but I guess since I’m alive, I should probably thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Wisdom said. She reclined a bit on the couch. “Hey, this is completely off topic, but what’s your name?”

“Jazer.”

“Nice to meet you, Jazer.” Wisdom shook his hand that laid on his leg wound. “I guess you already know that I’m Wisdom.”

“Yeah, the old man told me.” He paused, tuning out the wave of pain through his leg. “What kind of name is Wisdom?”

“A unique name,” Wisdom replied quickly.

_ Right, for a unique person.  _ Jazer thought. He shook his head, trying to clear it. His mind wasn’t quite as sharp as it normally was. He leaned back on the couch again. The fibers of the couch were rough on his bare, chapped skin. 

Jazer followed Wisdom’s eyes, they stared at his left shoulder blade, where his tattoo was. She most likely hadn’t seen much of it, but Jazer flattened himself against the couch to obstruct her view further. Neither said anything until Jazer’s spine went as straight as an arrow. His muscles protested, but he ignored them. “Umm… Where’s my shirt?” His head whipped around the small, rundown apartment searching for his clothes. “And pants?” He added after he looked down at his bare legs, which developed goosebumps. 

Wisdom reached over an arm of the couch to grab Jazer’s clothes, and tossed them into his lap. His face went as crimson as his blood trail in the snow. He yanked on his shirt, causing pain to flare in his bad arm.  _ Don’t bring up the tattoo,  _ he thought as he accidently gave her full view of the mark on his shoulder blade. He didn’t want to think about it or remember it. Lucky for him, Wisdom offered no comment about it.

It wasn’t so much that he was embarrassed. He mainly needed the warmth. However, a blush still colored his cheeks; this whole situation was awkward.

He heard Wisdom’s giggle through the dark fibers of the shirt. “What’s so funny?” He muttered, his face turning all the redder. 

“Your face was just really red. It was hilarious! And that look you made!” She laughed.

“Shut up,” Jazer responded as his head popped out of his shirt. “My cheeks get red in the cold.” Although, his cheeks were warm to touch.

“Sure, sure,” Wisdom smiled, letting the matter slide, much to Jazer’s relief. He sighed internally as he realized that he couldn’t put his pants on due to the wound. He awkwardly pulled the blanket over his legs.

“How did you get injured?” Wisdom asked as she pointed to the spot where his wound was, her finger dangerously close. Jazer winced as he was prepared for the sting of her finger in his gash again. Luckily for him, she made no contact.

“It was a knife fight. I stole five dollars. This guy from the Crimson Fangs-- You know who they are, right?” He interrupted himself to be sure that Wisdom understood what he was talking about. The girl nodded, so Jazer continued. “Well, he wanted it, and I didn’t want it to go to waste. So, we fought.” The injured boy wrapped his coarse blanket more tightly around his legs.

“I’m guessing he won,” Wisdom gestured to the Jazer’s wounds.

Jazer didn’t want to talk about it. He never liked losing, and his ego had taken more of a beating than his body in the fight. He answered sarcastically. “No, I got away without a scratch.”

“It’s not like you have to get mean about it. I was just clarifying the outcome.”

“Whatever.”

Wisdom hopped off of the couch, which made Jazer dislike her to a severe extent. It was almost as if she was flaunting the fact that she could move her legs without feeling a rush of pain. Then again, when he thought about it, he was really just being bitter over being impaired for a while. He would probably glare at someone who was casually walking if the opportunity presented itself.  _ Quit being jealous, idiot.  _ He told himself.

“Are you hungry?” She asked, even though the answer was probably obvious. The boy turned away from her for a second, trying to keep his cool after the few embarrassing moments that he’d just lived.

“Yes,” he responded reluctantly as his good hand ran its fingers through his hair. Wisdom smiled and threw him a look that seemed to point out that she was getting to him. He sullenly turned to look out the window, which he could not see out of because a thick layer of soot had amassed on its surface. When he looked around the small apartment, he couldn’t help but take note of how intact it was. 

“I’m just wondering, how do you come by a place like this?” He asked. The apartment was far from perfect, but it wasn’t falling apart at the seams.

Three clicks of a gas stove starting answered him before Wisdom did. “ Well, it’s not like I own the entire building, just this room. The whole place is a kind of community. I didn’t exactly ‘come by’ it on my own. I doubt I would ever have a chance with any of this alone.” Water bubbled in a saucepan. Jazer tried to turn to look at her, but that action alone would strain his neck too much.

“So, how did you get here?” He didn’t care if he pried, he was too curious.

“Galen. I didn’t know how to survive alone. In fact, I don’t think I can even survive alone now. Galen gave me this room, introduced me to the people here.”

“Why?”

Wisdom’s smile reached her voice. “Who knows? It could be he felt sorry for me. I personally think that he wanted an apprentice.” She returned to the couch with a large bowl of instant noodles.

“Apprentice?” Jazer echoed as Wisdom took her seat next to him, and set the bowl between the two of them, waiting for it to cool down.

“Yeah, he wants to pass on his ‘healing arts.” She said, making finger quotations to emphasize the words. Jazer raised an eyebrow. “He’s not quite old yet,” Wisdom paused, “but, he’s the only person here who can handle anything beyond simple first aid. When his time comes… It’ll be a dark day for everyone here.” Wisdom gave a tiny shudder before reaching for her share of the food.

“Why does it matter so much to him?” Jazer wondered aloud, pulling a few noodles out of the bowl between his finger and his thumb. “It’s not like anything that happens here will be his problem after he kicks the bucket.”

Wisdom fumbled with a noodle for a second. “Well, for one thing, he cares about the younger people who live here. For another, I guess that as a founder of the community, he feels responsible for keeping everyone healthy. As healthy as anyone can be in this city anyway.” Wisdom brought the bowl to her lips to drink some of the broth. She swallowed and held what remained of the meal toward Jazer. He wouldn’t deny himself a few extra calories. Wisdom took the empty bowl and left it in the sink.

The lights shut off, and Jazer flinched before he could stop himself. The only thing the dark was good for was hiding his expressions. He squinted to see Wisdom lay down on the hardwood floor a couple feet away from the couch. “I’ll take the floor for awhile,” she said. 

A small sense of chivalry deep within him demanded that he take the floor instead of her.  He was about to protest, but as he glanced at her small form curled up in the grainy darkness, something told him that she wouldn’t take the couch that night, or any of the next few nights.

It took him a long time to go to sleep that night. It could have been the strange surroundings, the pain in his leg, the cold, or the fact that he’d slept the day away. He didn’t know. The past twenty four hours rendered him unsure of what to make of his situation. He couldn’t determine whether he liked this place or hated it. If he liked Wisdom or hated her. 

_ Leave.  _ He thought to himself, but he doubted that his body would allow him to do that. He had no idea why he’d want to leave, but it felt like a reflex.  _ Tomorrow. I’ll leave while the girl’s gone at the factory.  _ As his eyes closed, he took some cold solace in the thought that everything would be back to normal after a night’s rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really, feel free to comment or chat with me on Tumblr! I love to meet other writers.
> 
> I have a thick skin, so go ahead and send me flames. I will be refined through the flames like gold!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jazer is stuck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone!  
> It's been a while since I've touched this story. Someone commented on the story, so I thought, "Why not? I guess I'll keep updating."
> 
> I started this story in my sophomore year of high school and finished it in my freshman year of college. Then, I was busy with nursing school and had an idea for a fantasy novel, which I've been trying to write (somewhat unsuccessfully), so this story kind of fell under my radar. 
> 
> Anyway, here's a new chapter! Hope you all like it!

Wisdom was gone when he woke up. Daylight streamed through clear spots on the grime covered window. Jazer forced himself into sitting position, cracking various joints in the process. He scanned the area, no one in sight.

He felt better than he had the night before. Aside from the soreness and the limp, he would have considered himself as good as new. It was possible that he was giving himself too much credit, and he really wasn’t much better, but his resolve to leave was in place. Holding his breath, he half limped, half hopped to the door. Jazer smiled to himself when his fingertips rested on the door knob. There was still time to reconsider, but he chased the idea from his mind. Wisdom seemed nice, even likable. If he stayed, he’d get attached. She’d be something that he could lose. 

He grasped the rusted metal knob.  _ Forget her. If you don’t, she could be another corpse you have to bury someday.  _ He thought to himself. He turned the knob to a degree, but it stopped short and refused to budge.  _ She didn’t… _ He started to think. As he applied more force, the doorknob turned.  _ Right,  _ he thought, relieved.  _ She may be naive and weird and stuff, but she wouldn’t lock me in. That would be crazy. _

He pushed the door, finally leaving. It didn’t move a centimeter. Jazer facepalmed.  _ She did. _ He groaned and pressed his body against the door. It remained in place.  _ Crap.  _ He thought. He threw his full weight against the door; it shuddered but didn’t open.

Ten body slams, seventeen calls for help, and two bruises later, he limped back to the hard couch in defeat. It was hopeless. The door was barricaded from the outside, and he was stuck. 

He began to wonder if Wisdom was actually crazy.  _ If she locks people in her apartment unit normally, then she’s probably a lunatic.  _ He concluded. If he looked, maybe he’d find the skeletons of people she’d previously locked up.

He laid down on the couch. What was he supposed to do for the whole time she was gone? Normally, he could deal with boredom. In any other place, there were streets to explore, people to rob, idiots to fight. Now, he was left in an apartment with just a couch, a bowl of cereal, and himself. Why did this have to happen to him? He was just a regular guy doing whatever he needed to do in order to survive.

He slept a little, ate the cereal, and stared off into space in the window’s direction. Then he remembered. The building would most likely have a fire escape! He excitedly limped to the darkened window.  _ Please don’t be like the door,  _ he mentally implored repeatedly. The lever thing moved when he yanked on it, and the window swung open. A victorious smile pulled at his lips, until he took half a step outside. 

Snow, footprints, and the pavement laid what seemed to be one hundred meters below him. His face twisted into a scowl as his hand gripped the degraded metal of the fire escape railing. Tiny metal shards buried themselves in his fingers. The pole seemed to crumble under the pressure of his hand. There was no way the stairs would support his weight. He let his head hang as he stumbled back into the apartment. He yanked the window shut, and slid down onto the floor next to it.

He was trapped. At least until Wisdom returned from her factory job. He didn’t know how long that would take. An hour passed. Then another three hours crawled by. Then half an hour. Jazer didn’t know if he was keeping time correctly, and he didn’t care. As long as he got out before he became claustrophobic, he’d be alright.

He may have been boiling mad for a little bit, but he couldn’t help but admire the fact that she’d been able to keep him indoors. He wasn’t easy to keep under lock and key.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. 
> 
> Feel free to comment. 
> 
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/akinachambers

**Author's Note:**

> This is going to be a relatively long story, just to let you all know.   
> I'm really excited to share it!  
> Comments would be super helpful!
> 
> Feel free to come and chat with me on Tumblr. I'm always thrilled to meet other writers! =D
> 
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/akinachambers


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